JD Lumber Load


jwb

Member
I look for loads for my open cars all the time. Now and then I've heard references to JD Lumber loads, which are sold on the auction site. You can find them if you search for "JD Lumber Loads" in Toys and Hobbies.

I decided to try one out. It's inexpensive and does the job. It is printed paper attached to a wood form.

JD_Lumber_Load.jpg
 
Looking fine Ken. I would tell yo to send that cat up here, but it is too modern for the time period I am modeling.
 
They are nice looking loads, we saw lots of those during the housing boom. I saw a long string of empties, literally 100 + cars, on a siding in North Dakota a couple years ago, I assume they were storing them there.
 
They do the same at a paper mill in Northern Idaho, every other year they use the cars, so on the off years they store them on some old track. Literally hundreds of them
 
Ya I have a few of those also I just got recently. I like that they are easily removable too.

P1000952.JPG
 
Looking good there Mike. I see a lot of these cars rolling through the area here. Well done.

I have written to the guy who sells these on ebay (some time ago now) about doing RY Timber and St Regis for MRL fans. His maker needs high quality photos to do his copying. I have also written to both of these lumber suppliers to ask for permission to have photos taken or whether they are willing to supply in order to prevent any copyright/patent problems. Neither unfortunately have given me the courtesy of a reply, either positive, negative, or maybe on condition. I've got a dozen 72' cars needing loads I'd love to fill. Maybe I'm being too cautious re the copyright thing, but you never know. I think I'll have to sit up into the wee hours and give them a personal call. Maybe a call from the other side of the world may be sufficiently out of the "norm" to elicit a response.
 
Thanks Alex, I'll have a look at that, there's a couple of partial images on RY's site, maybe something could be done with those.
 
Just a little update to this thread. I gave up on trying to get something going on the MRL ones and bought the JD lumberloads in various brands. At what you would usually get them for on the ebay site (starting bid US$8.50, which is what I paid for all 14 that I got), they are well enough presented. I think the ones you have Ken, may be the Jaeger brand of kits that you have to assemble i.e wrap the packs yourself, 48 to a 72' centrebeam flat car. Here's a link to another forum's thread (of which Ken is a member 'cause there's a post on the thread from him) in which the OP had shown them, but you'll need to also be a member to view his link.
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=20401

Anyway, the JD's are not individual packs but printed paper glued to a single (or built up) wooden block. I am sealing mine with thinned white glue and then gloss medium to protect them when handling. There is no strapping provided with them as in the Jaeger (Ken's loads?) and the other reviewer said the wrappers were of a plastic type material but held to the blocks with glue.
 
I have some of the older Jaeger kits. Very nice project for a lazy afternoon hanging out with the family. Cutting out all those little wraps and wrapping each individual block eats up some time. One advantage to them is the kit provides enough blocks to represent a full car. If you use a smaller car or less full one, it leaves alot of blocks for scenery or other uses. I built a load for a GSC flat without bulkheads, the kit had enough blocks leftover to stock a portion of the customer the car would reasonably delivered to.
 



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